


Let Them In Before They Go

by CamsthiSky



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU
Genre: Angst, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-11 06:37:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 11,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11708874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CamsthiSky/pseuds/CamsthiSky
Summary: A collection of prompts from my sleepover saturday on tumblr





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> anonymous asked: 11. “Oh god, you’re bleeding” Damian and Dick please!!!

“Oh god,” Dick said, blinking at Damian’s hand cradled in both of his. “You’re bleeding.”

Damian scoffed. “It’s nothing. I merely fell during today’s physical activities in that dreaded school you insist I go to.”

Those word didn’t settle well in Dick’s stomach, and he turned them over a little in his mind. Damian, an assassin trained from birth, tripped and feel on the ground, scraping his hands on what had to be asphalt if the pieces in his hand were any indication.

“Did someone push you, Damian?” Dick asked, more curious than concerned. Damian would never let anybody push him around for long, if at all. If anything, Dick should probably be waiting for the inevitable phone call from the principal’s office. “You didn’t hit anybody, did you?”

Right on cue, Damian scowled. “There’s this worm in my class who thought it would be fun to pick on Jamie Sanderson. Naturally, since Sanderson had no way to protect himself, I challenged the worm to a fight, but he played his cards right and had two other henchmen push me from behind while I was distracted. It was a,” Damian pauses searching for the right word, “slip of judgment on my part. I never should have turned my back to those thugs.”

Dick resisted the urge to smile. “How about next time you just tell a teacher, okay? They’ll take care of it.”

“Like they could,” Damian sneered. “Taylors is a coward who will not sully his hands, even when it needs to be done.”

“Okay, then, tell me,” Dick countered. “Give me all the info I need and I’ll take own the…worm.”

Damian looked him over, judging his seriousness, and Dick was fighting down a grin. Damian had come so far from when he’d first shown up on Bruce’s doorstep an arrogant brat. Now, he was just someone looking out for others, even if his ways were a bit…unconventional.

“That would be acceptable,” Damian nodded.

“Good,” Dick said, finally letting himself smile. “Now, let’s go see if Alfred can patch those scrapes up for you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 7. “Because nobody cares about me!” and 8. “Because I care about you!” Jason and Dick!! (could you write them together?)

“Jason, I just want to help,” Dick pleaded, and Jason couldn’t help the scowl that crept up on his face. Dick was pulling out the old puppy dog eyes on him, and he should know by now that they really only worked with Bruce and Tim. Jason didn’t give a shit about those baby blues. “Jason,  _please.”_

“Get out, Dickface,” Jason gestured vaguely at where he knew the door was. He didn’t want to get up from the couch to figure out the exact location. Dick would probably get the gist. “I don’t know why you’re here, but—”

“Because I care about you!” Dick yelled, exasperated.

Or he wouldn’t.

“You don’t care about me,” Jason growled, glowering at the floor. “Because  _nobody_  cares about me, Dick. You’ve got the Replacement and the Demon Brat to worry about. Now get out before I kick you out.”

Dick snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll manage that just great.” Dick sighed, then and Jason tensed. He knew what was coming. “You know, I  _do_  care about you, Jason. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“Get out.”

“No.”

 _“Out,_ Dickhead.”

_“No.”_

Jason was too tired to argue about this bull. He needed a smoke and about a dozen pain killers. He would never know how Bruce managed to argue with this guy. Jason could barely manage to do it coherent. “Fine,” he sighed. “But if you do stay, then you have to cook dinner. With vegetables. I know you like to live off of cereal and sugary doughnuts, but I actually like to have nutrients in my meals.”

Dick lit up like a Christmas tree, with actual bright colors and everything. Or maybe the pain in Jason’s head was just acting up again, making him delusional. But he was pretty sure that Dick  _did_  say, “Thanks, Jay,” in the softest, gentlest tone he usually saved for the Demon Brat.

Well, whatever. Dick was already here, and maybe Jason would accept the help just this one time.


	3. Hospital - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: For the prompt thing- "Hold my hand, you're going to be fine." with birdflash? Maybe with Wally saying the line to Dick about something serious? Idk, if you use this thank you so much you're one of my fave writers

“Hey.” Dick blinked up at Wally, who was gazing down at him, worry in his eyes. There was something—something dripping into Dick’s eye, but when he tried to wipe at it, he had to fight against a scream of pain. Agony ripped down Dick’s whole left side, and he didn’t understand why he was lying on the ground in so much pain.

“I don’t—” but Dick choked before he could get his words out. There was something—blood. Blood in his mouth, and he couldn’t breathe. God, it was hard to breathe. “Wall—”

“Don’t try to talk,” Wally hushed him, and he sounded reassuring, calming. But there was something about his face that had Dick thinking that Wally was just as scared as Dick was. “You’re going to be okay, Dick. The ambulance—the ambulance is on it’s way.”

Ambulance? Had he gotten into an accident? Dick couldn’t remember, and he was suddenly aware that he was starting to shake with the force of shock and trauma, and he didn’t know how to make it stop. He—

“Hey, hey,” Wally said again, his voice still even and calm. “Here, hold my hand. You’re going to be fine, Dick.”

Dick latched onto the offered hand the moment Wally nudged his uninjured right hand, and while holding it, Dick stared up into Wally’s eyes. Wally said he was going to be fine, so he was going to be fine.


	4. Hospital - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 2. “I’m at the hospital” Dick and batfam!!

“I’m—” Dick’s voice failed him, and he clutched the phone tighter. This wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his weekend, and now that he was here, he knew that he wasn’t going to be leaving for a while. But he couldn’t just  _not_  show up for Alfred’s Sunday dinner. His little brothers, Bruce, Alfred—they would all worry.

 _“Dick?”_  Bruce’s worried voice on the other end of the line called. Dick could hear Tim and Damian fighting in the background, and occasionally Jason would chime in with another sarcastic comment. It was perfect. Dick wished he was there.  _“Is something wrong?”_

“I’m in the hospital,” Dick said at last, barely managing to keep from choking over the words.

 _“Injuries,”_ Bruce barked.

Dick ran his right hand through his hair, scruffing it up even more. This was Bruce worried, he reminded himself. Bruce just needed to feel in control of the situation, and even though it felt like Dick had lost it the moment he woke up in his car after the accident, staring up at Wally as he held his hands, he gladly handed Bruce the reins.

“Left shoulder dislocated, half of my left ribs bruised or fractured, slight concussion, open fracture in my left leg—”

He wouldn’t be able to be Nightwing anytime soon. Not after this. There was recovery time and then there was the hell training would be after that, and Dick knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy road to go down.

_“Dick? What’s wrong?”_

“Will you please come down here?” Dick asked, barely able to keep a shudder from his own voice. Wally was here, just outside his room talking to the doctors, but it wasn’t enough. “Please, Bruce?”

 _“I’ll be there soon,”_ Bruce promised, and Dick let the tension bleed from his shoulders. He hadn’t wanted to take this on alone.  _“Hospital and room number?”_

“Blüdhaven General, room 416,” Dick told him. And then, maybe because he was hopped up on painkillers and a concussion, Dick said, “Thanks, Bruce. I love you.”

Bruce was silent a moment, but Dick could hear what wasn’t said in the quiet, and he let himself smile for the first time since finding himself in this situation.  _“Just hang tight. I’m on my way.”_

Dick’s smile widened. “I know.”


	5. Hospital - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 133. ”Okay, when you say love, do you mean love as in like loving pizza or as in love, love?” dick and babs please! 
> 
> and 
> 
> Anonymous asked: 137. “Okay, am I drunk or did you really just say that?” dick and babs!

 

“Dick?” Barbara called, and Dick fought the losing battle with his eyelids, barely managing to peer at the redhead through his eyelashes as she wheeled forward. “Dick, you’re supposed to stay awake until Bruce gets back with the doctor.”

Dick groaned and forced his eyelids almost the whole way open. He was still slumped back against the reclined bed, and he smiled Barbara as she gazed at him.

“I love you,” she whispers, and it was probably only because of this whole situation that she was telling him out of the blue like this. But she swept his sweaty bangs from his face and smiled at him sadly.

“Okay,” Dick said, because he was tired and kind of loopy from waiting for the doctors and Bruce to come back, “when you say love, do you mean love as in like loving pizza or as in  _love,_  love?”

Barbara laughed softly. “You’re the pepperoni to my cheese, Dick Grayson.”

“Am I high on pain meds,” Dick asked, blinking rapidly, “or did you really just say that?”

“I really just said that,” Barbara confirmed, and then she grabbed his limp right hand and pressed a slight kiss to his hand. “And for the record, I do love you.”

 _“Love,_  love?”

Barbara nods. “Love, love.”

Dick sighed, his eyelids fluttering shut just as the doctor and Bruce walked into the room and Barbara pulled away. “I love you, too,” he murmured.


	6. Hospital - Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tantalum-cobalt asked: 15 from the h/c prompts with Tim and Dick? I'm in the mood for some brotherly concern/care-taking :D 
> 
> and 
> 
> Anonymous asked: 15. “You need to eat something” babs and dick!

 

“You need to eat something,” Barbara said, pushing the tray closer to him, but Dick took care not to look at it as he looked at  _her._

“I’m not hungry,” he told her. “I’ve eaten today.”

“That’s a bunch of bullcrap,” Tim said pleasantly as he walked through the door and into the hospital room. He had an eyebrow raised, and he didn’t look particularly  _mad,_  but he looked exactly like Bruce had when Dick had refused to eat yesterday. “If you don’t start eating soon, they’re going to have to force feed you or something.”

“I’m not hungry,” Dick repeated, a cold smile plastered on his face. Because he wasn’t. He was tired of being taken care of little a little kid, and with the amount of medication he was on, everything tasted like dirt. It made his stomach tilt and whirl dangerously, and Dick didn’t want to throw up with his whole left side still so delicate.

“Dick, you need to eat something,” Tim said, collapsing into a chair next to Barbara’s wheel chair. He looked as exhausted as Dick felt, and Dick’s smile dropped as he stared down at the tray in food of front of him.

“Please?” Barbara added when Dick didn’t answer.

Dick could only sigh. “Fine. But only a few bites.”

Barbara smiled, and the tension in Tim’s shoulders bled out. If he threw up, though, he was totally going to recruit Damian to exact revenge on his behalf.


	7. Hospital - Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 92. “Those things you said yesterday… Did you mean them?” dick and babs!

Dick was starting to think that he would never get out of this damn hospital. He just wanted to be back in his apartment, back up on the rooftops, not sitting here, confined to a hospital bed for weeks on end.

His family had been visiting him, though—well, most of his family. Nobody had been able to get a hold of Jason, and Damian was throwing a fit about the whole thing, so he only came around when Bruce forced him, too. Honestly, though, Dick didn’t blame Damian. Dick kind of wanted to scream and cry about it, too.

Barbara Gordon kept him company, the most. After he’d been transferred to Gotham General, she’d taken to staying nights when she could, the Commissioner picking her up at odd hours. Tim, Bruce and Alfred were a constant, too, and Wally still visited when he could, but the guilt was consuming him from the inside out, Dick could tell.

But Babs, she was there almost the whole time. Even now, she was sitting by his bedside, working on something on her laptop as Dick stared at her.

Barbara sighed, looking over the laptop at him, an eyebrow raised. “What’s wrong?”

Dick shrugged, sagging back into his pillows. “Nothing. Just—I don’t like hospitals.”

She shot him a sympathetic look. “Your surgery’s tomorrow, right? After a day or two, I’m sure they’ll let you recover at home.”

“The manor,” Dick sighed. “Bruce convinced me that I needed to stay at the manor for a while.”

“And by convinced,” Barbara said, reading in between the lines, “you mean he decided it and didn’t tell anybody.” Dick nodded. “Well, it’s not a bad idea. Just until you get used to caring for yourself again.”

“I didn’t argue.”

“But you don’t like getting told what to do.”

Dick’s expression soured. “I don’t like Bruce telling me what to do.”

It was the end of the conversation both of them knew, and Barbara went back to whatever she was working on. Dick watched her, a question on the tip of his tongue. But—it was silly. Stupid, really. He really wasn’t one to doubt these things.

But maybe the hospital stay was sucking all the hope and optimism out of him.

“I can hear you thinking,” Barbara said, looking up at him again. “What’s wrong?”

“That thing you said the other day…did you mean it?” Dick asked, staring at his blankets.

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”

Dick laughed a little, finding her eyes. “About the pizza?”

Barbara blinked, and then she laughed, too, a sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, I didn’t think you would remember that. You were kinda out of it.” She closed her laptop and sent Dick a dazzling smile that never ceased to take his breath away. “But, yes. I meant it. I love you, Dick.”

Dick returned her smile, the bleak hospital room looking just that much more colorful. “Love you too, Babs.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 31. “Kiss me.” dick and babs!!

“Kiss me,” Dick said.

Babara grimaced, and Dick fought to hold back a grin. “No.”

“Come on,” and Dick couldn’t find it anymore. “You know you love me.”

“Loving you has nothing to do with—” Barbara’s eyes flicked over Dick’s bruised face, “—that. Besides, Damian says that I’m not supposed to reward you for bad behavior. Something about the Pavlovian response.”

Dick chuckled. “I’m not a dog, Babs.”

Barbara shrugged, still typing on her laptop, but there was a small smile on her face. “I’m not kissing you.”

“Please?”

“No.”

Dick groaned. “Fine, then. Leave me to wallow in my misery alone then.”

And of course Barbara took his words literally, and Dick was snoozing. Though, he wasn’t sure if he’d woken up at the kiss on his bruised cheek of if he’d dreamed it. He liked to think that he’d gotten through to Barbara, but then again, he would probably never know.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: "I'm not leaving you behind, Dick! I already did once... I'm not making that mistake again."

"I'm not leaving you behind, Dick! I already did once... I'm not making that mistake again."

“Wally—” Dick croaks, but Wally isn’t listening to him anymore. He heaves Dick up by the armpits, except Dick’s legs aren’t working, and Wally ends up dragging him through the dimly lit corridors. Dick can’t remember where they are or how they got here, but he knows, he  _knows,_  that Wally should just leave him and go find help. It’s the only way they’re going to stay alive.

Dick’s head hangs, though, and he can’t muster up any more strength to protest against this. His own blood trails on the floor below him, and he knows that if anybody cares to look, there is no way that they won’t find Dick and Wally’s failed attempt at escape.

“Hey, stay with me, Dick,” Wally says, his tone sharp with fear and anger and pain and a million other things that trickle through Dick’s fingers before he can grasp onto them. “I’m not going to leave you, you hear me?”

“Yes,” Dick coughs out. “But you should.”

“I won’t,” Wally promises. “God, Dick. I would never. You’re my best friend, and we’re going to get out of here alive. And if I have to drag you out of here myself, then fine.”

It’s not practical, but Wally West doesn’t give up easily, and Dick knows there’s no hope of convincing him otherwise. So all Dick can say is, “Okay.” And it’s enough. They’ll get out of this. Alive.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 69 “Just pretend to be my date”. Babs and dick!

“Shit.”

Barbara raises an eyebrow. “What?”

Dick ducks his head behind his menu, barely peeking over so he can keep an eye on the girl who walked into the restaurant. His heart is pounding and this is not how he wanted to tonight to turn out. She glances around, and Dick hisses quietly to Barbara, “Quick. Just pretend to be my date.”

Barbara’s fighting a grin now. “Dick, I  _am_  your date. We’re at dinner and after we’re watching a movie. If that’s not a date, then I figured you calling me up last week and  _asking_  me on one was.”

Dick sends Babs a half-smile. “Sorry. Just, that girl used to stalk me back when I was in high school. I just don’t want her to start harassing me again.”

But they’re lucky, and they spend dinner and the movie chatting and enjoying each other’s company, and Nosy Nancy keeps her nose to herself. It’s a good night, and at the end, Dick kisses Babs gently, and watches her wheel herself into her house.

It’s a good night.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 46.“I hate you.” bruce and dick! 
> 
> and 
> 
> Anonymous asked: 57. “Listen to me!” bruce and dick

 

“Don’t ignore me,” Bruce growled as he stepped out of the car. “Dick, listen to me!”

Dick was already two steps ahead, rushing towards the front door in his new school uniform. Bruce shared a long-suffering glance with Alfred before he started towards the door. He’d just been about to go up the steps when nine-year-old, vindictive Dick Grayson stared him straight in the eyes from the foyer, and  _slammed the door in his face._

Oh, he was so grounded.

“Dick!” Bruce yelled, opening the door and catching Dick scampering up the stairs sans shoes, tie, and blazer. “Dick, come back here!”

Dick whirled around, just a few steps from the top, and stuck his tongue out at Bruce. “You can’t make me!”

“Get down here or you’re grounded!”

“You’re not my dad!” Dick yelled, his face red with anger, and Bruce had to grit his teeth against the sharp lance of pain that shot through him at that statement. Dick wasn’t done, though. He was absolutely livid, and all about Bruce enrolling him in a simple thing like  _school._

“But I’m your guardian,” Bruce growled, “and we need to talk about this. Get. Down. Here.  _Now.”_

“I hate you!” Dick screamed, and then he was up the stairs, and Bruce was trying to recover from the pain turned agony.

Little Dickie  _hated_  him? God, this was his worst nightmare come true. Or well, his worst nightmare was Dick falling to Tony Zucco’s hands, like he’d almost done almost two months ago, but this came at a close second.

“Congratulations, Master Bruce.,” Alfred said, coming in from the open door behind him, an eyebrow raised. “You can officially call yourself a parent, now.”

Bruce just wanted this day to be over.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 71. “I just did some calculations, and I’ve been able to determine that you’re full of shit.” tim and dick!!!

“Dick?” Tim asks, rubbing at his dry eyes. It’s almost five in the morning, and he’s running on about seven cups of coffee. Or maybe seventy. He lost track a while ago, and nobody has been home to cut him off like usual. But Dick’s sitting at the Batcomputer, mulling over some files, looking really put together for a five am research binge.

“Go to sleep,” Dick says without even looking at him, and Tim somehow has the emotional capacity to be annoyed.

“When did you last sleep, Dick?” Tim asks.

Dick shrugs. “I’ll tell you, but only if you answer the same question.”

Tim doesn’t rise to the bait, because Tim’s pretty sure that he’s on day three now. Maybe. Probably. He shrugs off his doubts and scowls at Dick’s back. “Go to sleep.”

“I’m busy,” Dick answers. “Besides, I’m not tired.”

“I just did some calculations,” Tim tells Dick, stomping over to the chair, “and I’ve been able to determine that you’re full of shit.”

Dick just has this indulgent smile on his face, and Tim’s twitching at the sight of it. He saves a few things on the computer and finally,  _finally,_  turns to face Tim. “I’ll go to sleep when you do.”

“Fine,” Tim says, grabbing Dick’s wrist. He drags Dick to a standing position and then pulls him along across the Cave, and it isn’t until they hit the stairs that Tim freezes, shooting Dick a furious glance. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”

Dick doesn’t answer, but his smile does turn into a full-blown grin, and really, that’s answer enough. Dick takes the lead and Tim just follows Dick to his doom. Sleeping.


	13. Nightwing Down - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: "You can't die. Please don't die." with Dick and Tim?

When Dick goes down, Tim doesn’t hesitate to knock his goon out and sprint towards where his brother lies prone on the ground. Jason handles the thug that had taken Nightwing down. It had been a baseball bat to the head, and there’s—there’s a lot of blood.

Head wounds bleed a lot, Tim reminds himself. He drops to his knees, checks the wound—and it’s a giant gash. Dick’s not moving, and when Tim peels Dick’s mask off, his eyes are closed. He’s unconscious.

“You can’t die,” Tim says with a fierceness as he drags out his field pack to dress the wound. “Come on, Dick.  _Please_ don’t die.”

And Dick responds to the pressure Tim’s putting on his head as he winds the bandage around his skull to keep the gauze in place. His eyes flutter open, and Tim almost dissolves into tears, because he thinks that maybe for the first time in a long time, someone heard his quiet, fierce whispers, and saved Dick. Tim has lost too much family to lose another from a stupid  _baseball bat._

“Are you okay, Dick?” Tim asks, but it doesn’t look like Dick’s fully conscious. That’s okay. Dick can work with that. He can work with kind of awake. So he keeps asking different questions, keeps talking to Dick and making sure that Dick stays alive, ignoring the beating behind him, until he hears,

“Tim? What’s—that noise?”

Dick will be okay. Tim’s here to make sure of it.


	14. Nightwing Down - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 62. “You shouldn’t have said that.” batfam!!!

Dick’s on the ground, and he only realizes that after staring at the sky for a few minutes, Tim hovering over him, asking him questions. The questions don’t quite make it to Dick’s foggy brain, though, so he just lets Tim fuss over him.

Eventually, the fog recedes enough for Dick to hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh, not masked by Tim’s constant murmuring.

“Tim,” Dick says, and Tim stares at him, eyes red-rimmed. He looks so out of his element, and Dick’s big brother instincts tingle with the need to just get this kid in his arms. Tim looks like he’s about to cry, and Dick can’t have that. But the sound. He needs to deal with the sound first. “What’s—that noise?”

“Jason,” Tim whispers. Then he clears his throat, turns away from Dick, and calls out, “Red Hood. That’s enough. He’s already down, and I need help over here.”

The sound of fighting stops, and Dick watches as Jason kneels down next to Tim, his knuckles bloody. They’re both wearing masks—Tim’s cowl is down, though—so that makes Dick think that maybe  _he’s_ wearing a mask, too. Is that what happened? Had Dick gotten hurt during patrol or something? He can’t remember.

“Did you kill him?” Tim asks.

Jason scowls. “No, but the bastard deserved it for what he did.”

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Tim says, his face practically full of worry lines. Kid needs to take better care of himself. Dick should work on that. “B’s on the line.”

“Like I give a shit,” Jason says, and then they both turn to Dick, and Dick blinks to make sure he’s not seeing double. Jason leans closer, his mask scrunching up weirdly like he’s squinting. “You okay, Goldie?”

“Fine,” Dick says faintly. “I think. I’m a little—confused.”

Jason grunts and turns to Tim. “Get him to the Cave. I’ll call the Demon Brat and we’ll finish patrol.”

Tim nods, and Dick thinks that this must be a dream, or some weird delusion, because Jason and Tim are getting along, and Jason is  _willing_ working with Damian on patrol. It’s weird. It’s  _so_  weird. But then Jason’s gone, and Tim turns to Dick.

“Can you get up, ‘Wing?”

“Not by myself,” Dick says. “I think I’m dreaming.”

But Tim grins. “Nope. You’re fully conscious, and if I have anything to say about it, you’re going to stay that way.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whelmedbythebatfam asked: 12. "I heard you scream. Nightmares again?" and 13. "Hey, just look at me, breathe." After Damian's return to life, he does not take Dick's "death" well. One night Tim is the only one around when Damian has a nightmare (go angsty, go fluffy, I don't care, wherever your heart takes you!) :D

Damian wakes up screaming. He’s not coherent enough to really register anything other than the pure terror shooting through his very being, and he hates it. He hates how he’s rolling out of his bed, readying himself to run to Richard’s bedroom down the hall, only to stop because he knows there’s no on in there.

He hates that all he can think of is how it felt to have the life bleed out of him, and for it to happen to  _Richard—_

He can’t do this. He needs—he needs Richard, but that’s not an option, and it’s—

Drake slams into the bedroom, eyes and hair wild, like he’s just woken up, and it’s then Damian realizes how vulnerable he must look like this. Standing in the middle of his bedroom, arms crossed over his chest, panting for breath.

Drake drops in front of him, and pulls Damian down to sit on the edge of the bed. Fingers that Damian would usually never let get this close settle in his hair and force his head down so that they’re foreheads are almost touching. Damian’s barely aware of Drake murmuring, “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Just look at me, Damian. Breathe.”

Damian, with the help of Drake, rides out what he knows to be a panic attack. It takes a while, but finally Damian feels strong enough to wave Drake off. Drake back off almost immediately.

“I heard you scream,” Tim admits, and when Damian doesn’t answer, he continues, “Nightmares again?”

“One,” Damian tell him, straightening up. “And it’s ridiculous.”

Drake’s face falls. “It’s not ridiculous. You miss him.”

“How—” Damian’s mouth snaps shut before he can angrily snap anything out. Unlike most things, this isn’t Drake’s fault. It’s the Crime Syndicate’s fault, and Damian won’t take his anger out on someone who does not deserve it. “How could this have happened while I was—How?”

Drake’s shoulders droop. “I don’t know, Damian. But it did. And now we have to deal with it.”

Damian doesn’t want to  _deal with it._  He just wants Richard to be back here, his same old annoying self. He doesn’t like how silent and empty the house is without Richard’s cheerful laughter.

Damian clears his throat. “Thank you,” he says grudgingly. “For helping me calm down.”

Drake shakes his head. “It’s hard for all of us. And if there’s one thing that—that Dick taught me, it’s that you’re there for family.” Drake meets Damian’s eyes, his gaze intense and unwavering. “We’re family, Damian, whether we like it or not. And that means we have to be there for each other.”

Damian nods once. He  _isn’t_  going to cry. “Understandable. Next time, I will—I—”

Drake smiles. “I’ll be there.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ms-aqua-marvel asked: Sleepover Saturday! Dialogue Prompt: 113:“I’m gonna lay down and die for like half hour okay?” Dick and Jason, Gen/Brotp! :D 
> 
> and 
> 
> Anonymous asked: 34 “this is all your fault,” and 28 “stop pinning this on me! you started it!” with tim and dami or dick and jason?

 

“I’m exhausted,” Dick sighs as Jason sinks down onto the couch next to him. They’re in Dick’s apartment, but Jason doesn’t seem too worried about it. Dick smiles and lets his head flop against the back of the couch.

They’d had a rough night of patrol, and Dick is sure every single part of his body is bruised. He’s absolutely worn out, and apparently Jason feels the same, because he groans, “I’m sore in places I didn’t even know had muscles.”

Dick laughs breathlessly. “Good. This is all your fault, and you deserve the most punishment.” Except Dick’s aching all over, too, and they’re both complete messes.

Jason squawks indignantly. “Hey,  _you_  started it,” Jason says, but he’s probably in too much pain, so he doesn’t do much more than flip Dick off. “Stop trying to pin this all on me, Dickhead. No wonder Bruce thinks you’re the Golden Boy.”

Dick just laughs and laughs, until he’s in hysterics, and that might be because of the concussion, but he’s probably fine, so he doesn’t deserve the weird mixture of skepticism and concern Jason throws his way.

“I would check your head out for you,” Jason says, “but I’d rather just lay down here and die for like half an hour. It’d be so much easier than dealing with you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dick grins, and yes. He’s most definitely concussed. “People love dealing with me.”

“I’m gonna die now, okay? Okay.” Jason flops over sideways on the couch, and Dick just keeps laughing. They’ll get up eventually, but for now Dick’s just going to bask in the comfort of being with his little brother.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: "What," Tim said blankly, staring at Dick's badly paired outfit.

What," Tim said blankly, staring at Dick's badly paired outfit.

“What?” Dick echoed, blinking. “Is there something on my clothes?”

“Yeah. It’s the  _clothes.”_  Tim groaned, throwing his hands up exasperatedly. “You can’t really be that oblivious about your own life choices. Like,  _seriously._  Please just change.”

Dick smiled knowingly. “I like my outfit.”

“You look like a tourist mixed with some bad Nightwing choices,” Tim told him straight up. “I’m not going anywhere with you while you look like that.”

Dick shrugged. “Fine. Cass said that she wanted to go anyway.”

And then Cass stepped into the room, wearing a similar outfit, and Tim was out. No way was he going to the mall so small children can point and laugh. If Cass and Dick wanted to be fashion disasters, they could do it without him.

He was  _out._


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 149 "Did you just blueshell me?" Jason and Cassandra please

Jason’s supposed to be in first place, and he can’t believe this is happening to him. He looks away from the screen and over at Cass, wide-eyed, but the only thing on her face is a small smile.

“Did you just blueshell me?” Jason wonders, his voice faint, but it grows more indignant as he continues, “You just blueshelled me.  _Right_  before the finish line. What the  _hell.”_

Dick comes in at that moment, and he stops, eyebrows furrowed, and he looks between the two. Jason turns his wide-eyes to Dick.

“She just  _blueshelled_  me,” Jason tell hims, like Dick can magically make Cass take the move back. Maybe he can. Hell if Jason knows.

Cass makes a peace sign at Dick. “I won,” she says.

Dick just shoots her a grin. “Nice. I’ll get the camera.” And he’s gone again.

It takes Jason point-zero-two seconds before he’s out of his seat and running towards the front door. No way is he sticking around for Dick to document the start of his downward spiral in MarioKart.

If anybody asks why he just lost, he’s going to blame the dying and coming back to life. Might as well be useful for  _something._


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 110. “You’re like, five feet tall. How you gonna reach me, shortie?” Jason and damian! 
> 
> Set sometime after Batman #16.

 

“Give it  _back,_  Todd!” Damian yells, jumping for the toy again.

Jason just stretches higher, on his tippy-toes now to keep Damian from grabbing the stolen object. Dick winces when Jason lets out a laugh, grin taunting and mocking. “You’re like, five feet tall. How are you gonna reach me, shortie?”

Dick really wishes he could be anywhere but in this room at this moment. Damian’s red in the face, and he looks like he could explode at any moment. Jason’s not doing himself any favors by laughing in the kid’s face like that, and Dick could  _maybe_  defuse the situation, but he also doesn’t need to be on the wrong side of Damian while still recovering from Bane’s abuse.

“Give. It. Back.”

“Make me.”

Dick closes his eyes in exasperation. Wrong words.

Damian growls threateningly, and then he  _jumps._  He springs off Jason’s legs, plants on hand on Jason’s shoulders, and then he somehow manages to climb Jason like a jungle gym. Damian wraps his legs around Jason’s neck and  _squeezes,_  and Dick is impressed when Jason’s arm drops minutely, just enough for Damian to grab it and jump off.

Jason’s left spluttering for breath. “Hey!”

“You brought this upon yourself,” Damian tells him, and then he’s out of the room.

When Jason looks over to Dick for help, all he can do is shrug. Damian is Damian, and to be fair, Jason had been asking for it by holding his toy hostage.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 17 "Don't touch me!" dick/wally 
> 
> Set in the Teach Me to Dream au

 

“D-Don’t,” Dick pants, on his hands and knees, and Wally can’t help but jerk back a step. He’s never seen anything like this, and he doesn’t understand why Dick won’t let him  _help._  Wally can run them all the way to the Dick’s mansion, or to Wally’s house, but he can’t do that if—

“Dick,” Wally says quietly as he crouches down and reaches out a hand again. “Please. I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Don’t touch me!” Dick suddenly says, his breath hitching in his chest, and there’s a wild look in his eyes that Wally doesn’t understand, but he pulls his hand back anyways.

He doesn’t understand  _any_  of this. He’s never—this isn’t some panic attack. Wally knows what a panic attack looks like, and this is that times one bajillion. Dick’s eyes won’t focus, he’s not getting enough air, and he’s muttering what has to be a conversation under his breath. It’s like he’s a million miles away, switching between the present and wherever his mind has decided to send him.

Wally’s scared, and he doesn’t know what to do. But that doesn’t stop him from  _thinking._  He just has to  _think._

He can’t think of anything, so they sit there on the empty sidewalk, Dick a complete and utter mess, and Wally’s never felt so helpless in his life.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whelmedbythebatfam asked: 75. “It’s not that you’re wrong, exactly, you’re just extremely not right.” Dick and Damian! 
> 
> and 
> 
> Anonymous asked: 12, something along the lines of “stay the night. please” with dick and dami? platonic bed sharing?

 

Dick opens the door to Damian’s bedroom, peeking in. There’s nothing but darkness and light breathing, and so Dick goes to close the door. If Damian’s not awake, he isn’t going to bother his much needed rest.

But a small, “Richard?” croaked from the bed has Dick turning back and heading towards the bed. He should have known he wouldn’t have gotten away with it.

He settles on the edge of the bed, looking over the fever flushed face and the glassy eyes. “How do you feel?

“I am fine,” Damian says at once, but he coughs right afterwards.

Dick hums. “Sure, you are.”

Damian throws him a glare. “Was my statement wrong?”

“Not wrong, exactly,” Dick says, an easy smile on his face as he cards his fingers through Damian’s hair, and it’s a testament to how bad Damian’s feeling that he doesn’t swat Dick’s hand away, “just extremely not right.”

Damian harrumphs and Dick has to fight back a laugh. He stays a few more minutes before he gets up from the bed. Damian needs rest, after all. But the moment Dick goes to take a step, a hand shoots out from underneath the covers to catch his wrist, and Dick stops.

“Damian?”

“Stay the night,” Damian orders, before adding a grudging, “Please.”

“Of course,” Dick says, smiling. “Anything for you.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ghostori asked: 144-"You’re proud of me?” with Dick and Damian, please!

“Are you alright?” Dick asks, crouching own in front of Damian. He searches the boy’s eyes, but there’s no indication that Damian’s anything other than annoyed, even after watching a bomb go off less than a dozen feet from him.

Predictably, Damian shrugs him off. “I’m fine.”

Dick sags in relief, and then he finally looks around him for the first time since he’d sprinted all the way to Damian’s sides, and he sees the unconscious bodies lying all around him. There have to be at least six or seven, and now that Dick’s looking for it, they don’t look like they would have been able to escape the blast on their own.

Then he looks to Damian again, and the kid’s breathing is slightly elevated, and he’s covered in ash. Dick almost can’t believe it.

“You did this?” Dick asks, nodding his head towards the unconscious people. “By yourself?”

Damian scowls. “It had to be done.”

“I’m proud of you,” Dick tells him. Of course, he’s terrified that Damian even thought to go  _near_  that burning building, but this is what we do, and Dick won’t tell Damian off for it. “So, so proud.”

Damian swallows visibly and looks away, but Dick knows that it’s message received.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: for dialogue prompt: 17, set some time before dami dies, with tim and dami fighting over something ridiculous? 
> 
> 17\. “Why are you so annoying?”

“Where is it,” Damian demands as he stomps into the kitchen. He has a murderous look on his face.

“Where is what?” Tim asks over his breakfast.

“My sketchbook.”

Tim shrugs and raises an eyebrow. “Why would I know where it is? I don’t touch it.”

Damian honest to god  _growls,_  his eyes flashing dangerously as he stalks forward, and Tim can’t help but be reminded of a cat. “Give it back to me, Drake,” Damian orders, the growl still in his voice, and it’s eerie how much he sounds like Bruce. It send chills up Tim’s spine.

“I don’t have it,” Tim snaps, stabbing his pancakes with a fork. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t give it back to a brat like you.”

“Give it back or face my wrath.”

“Nice,” Tim deadpans, “You steal that from a movie?”

“Drake!” Damian yells. “I  _need_  my sketchbook! Tell me where you’ve hidden it.”

“Why are you so annoying?” Tim sighs. “I just want to eat my breakfast in peace.”

“I’ll leave once you hand it over,” Damian sneers.

“Don’t have it,” Tim says, his temper snapping. “Leave me  _alone.”_

“Damian?” Dick asks, walking into the kitchen with–well, what do you know? It’s Damian’s sketchbook which is totally not in Tim’s possession. Tim misses Dick’s and Damian’s exchange, but as soon as it’s over, Damian’s whirling on him.

“This isn’t over, Drake.”

A brat. Tim didn’t see anything but a brat trying to fill shoes way to big for him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> laquilasse asked: "Come on, dude, dance with me!" Dick and Wally :^}

Dick’s slumped over the table, his head on top of his folded arms, and he’s exhausted. He really— _really_ —just wants to go home and get into bed, but Bruce had made it mandatory for him to attend this stupid thing. At least Wally’s here somewhere.

“Dick!” Wally cries, running fast enough to crash into several old rich people but not fast enough to give anything away. He’s technically just here as Dick’s guest, not a vigilante. But he comes speeding through the dance floor, a grin spread across his face. He gets to the table, and says, “Dick! You have to come with me  _right now._  It’s important!”

Dick doesn’t even get a chance to protest before Wally’s grabbing his wrist and weaving him in and out of socialites. They make it to the backdoor relatively unscathed, but Wally doesn’t stop. He keeps going, until they’re approaching—

“The garden?” Dick asks, when Wally spreads his hands into a  _tada!_  gesture. “Is this what was so important?”

Wally’s face falls a little. “You don’t like it?”

“Well,” Dick says, his face scrunching up minutely, “don’t tell Bruce I said this, but it’s about a thousand times better than inside.”

Wally brightens again, and he pulls out his phone, fiddling with it until it starts playing music out of his crappy phone speakers. He grabs Dick’s hand and tugs him into the center of the garden. “Come on, dude, dance with me!”

Dick laughs, and he doesn’t feel so exhausted anymore. Wally’s like a breath of fresh air sometimes, and this, spinning around in circles and goofing off as Wally dips him, it’s amazing. He wishes everyday could be this magical.


	25. Tim's a Big Brother - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: Loving the drabbles so far! If you're still accepting the prompts, "can you please come and get me?" with Tim picking Damian up from school for a reason of your choice :)

Tim’s phone rings just as he’s about to head down to the Cave to train, and he frowns at the number. It’s a number he recognizes, unfortunately. The school. Whatever’s happened, it’s probably got something to do with Damian, but Tim isn’t sure exactly why the school is calling  _his_  phone, when Tim knows for sure only Dick’s, Bruce’s, and the manor’s are even registered.

He picks up anyways. “Hello?”

 _“Drake,”_  is the immediate reply, but the tone of voice is odd.

“Damian?”

 _“I need you to come and get me from school,”_  Damian says.  _“There was an incident, and since Grayson is in Blüdhaven, and Father’s at work, you are my only option.”_

Not true. Alfred is definitely still lurking around the manor, but Tim thinks that whatever Damian’s got himself into, he probably doesn’t want anybody else to find out about it. So, for some reason, Tim finds himself saying, “Sure. I’ll be there soon.”

There’s a pause, and then Damian says quietly, “Thank you, Drake,” before hanging up.

Tim smiles and grabs his keys. Maybe there’s hope for the two of them, yet, just like Dick says.


	26. Tim's a Big Brother - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 97. "That's almost exactly the opposite of what I meant" with Dick and Dami

Tim’s coming home today after a three day trip with Bart (one not involving superpowers, go figure) with the Titans, Dick knows. He also knows that Damian’s in a really bad mood and nothing good is going to come out of this.

“Don’t fight with Tim while he’s here,” Dick tells his little brother, but Damian’s already stomping towards the front door like it’s personally offended him, and when Tim steps through it, Damian’s glaring up at the older boy. Dick can only run a hand down his face and say, “Damian, you’re doing almost exactly the opposite of what I meant.”

“He deserves it,” Damian spits.

Tim’s giving Dick this bewildered, almost betrayed look. It’s like he’s telling Dick,  _he’s your problem, don’t let him be mine, too_  and Dick sighs.

“Damian, seriously, just back off of him for a second.”

Damian, of course, ignores Dick. “You told Father,” Damian hisses. “You  _promised_  you wouldn’t.”

The tension falls from Tim’s shoulders and a look of understanding passes over his face. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Damian says, crossing his arms defensively over his chest.  _“Oh.”_

“He needed to know,” Tim says, closing the door behind him. He’s careful not to look Damian in the eye, and Dick can’t help but look between the two, wondering just  _what_  he’d missed. Tim continues, “And it was better coming from me than you. You know that.”

“The reason I called you was because I was trying to avoid this!”

Dick has no clue where this is going. He’s been in Blüdhaven for the past couple weeks, and he’d come to the manor for the week, so he knows that he’s missed some things, but he didn’t think he would miss something like this.

“What’s this about?” Dick asks, cutting Tim off before he can say anything to Damian that will have the two not speaking to each other for the rest of the day. “Something I missed?”

“Damian almost got kidnapped at school last week,” Tim says, his eyes serious, and he ignores the way Damian literally  _growls_  at him. “And he wouldn’t tell anybody. I had to tell Bruce.”

And Dick gets it. He understands where Damian is coming from. An attempted kidnapping probably would have been something that Damian didn’t want anybody to know about, especially when he’s been told several times to hide anything that can connect him to Robin. 

But Dick also understands Tim’s side. They’ve all been targeted as a means to get to Bruce and his money. Sometimes, they’re amateurs, sometimes they’re not. Each time it’s happened, though, there’s always been an undercurrent of worry and terror, whether it’s been  _Dick_  getting kidnapped or one of his brothers. When someone can do the things they’ve been trained to do, it’s hard to keep it all hidden in such a stressful situation.

“Damian,” Dick says.

 _“What,”_  Damian snarls, but his ears are burning red, and he won’t look Dick in the eye.

“Did you know,” Dick says, cracking a small smile, “that they used to call me Boy Hostage?” 

(He ignores Tim’s incredulous  _“used to?”_ )

Damian stares at him, bewildered, and Dick continues, “It’s true. I used to get kidnapped all the time. Robin or Dick, it didn’t matter. Still happened. I mean, I think someone tried to kidnap me last  _month._ It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” Damian denies at once. “I’m just….”

Damian trails off, and Dick crouches down in front of him. “You’re frustrated. You know how to get out of a sticky situation and you apply it. It sucks.”

Damian nods. It’s only once and it’s hesitant, but he nods. And Dick takes the win.

He sends Tim a smile. “Thanks for telling Bruce.”

Tim shrugs. “I had to. Bruce can track down those kidnappers right away, and he wasn’t  _angry,_  just….well.”

“Just Bruce,” Dick finishes. He switches his attention to Damian. “Well, what say we go and train like we were planning. I’ve only got five more days in the week and I’m ready to have some fun.”

Damian scoffs, but there’s a smile on his face. “You’re going down, Grayson.” 

And then Damian’s fleeing for the Cave, probably desperate to compose himself. Dick lets him go, instead standing up and turning to Tim again. “You did the right thing by telling Bruce. He’s the best one to go to for this kind of thing.”

“I know,” Tim says, but he sends Dick this odd look, like he’s unsure. “But you didn’t see Damian when I picked him up from school. He  _trusted_  me. But I couldn’t  _not_  tell Bruce. What if it—” Tim cuts himself off, but Dick understands where Tim’s going with this.

“What if it happens again, only this time it succeeds?” Dick guesses. Tim nods, and he looks  _miserable._ Well, sometimes that’s where being a big brother got you, but Dick knows it’s one hundred percent worth it in the long run. “You did the right thing. Damian knows it, too, but he’s thirteen and this hasn’t really happened to him before.”

Tim sighs, but his shoulders slump. He gets it, even if he doesn’t like it, Dick can tell.

Dick pulls Tim into a hug. “Welcome to big brotherhood,” Dick jokes, and then more sincerely, he says, “and welcome home. I missed you.”

“Missed you, too, Dick.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 132 "I thought I lost you" for dick and damian please?

It’s been silent for far too long. Where before there were explosions and gunshots and yelling, now there’s nothing except for his own too loud breathing, and Dick doesn’t dare stop his sprint. The last thing he’d heard before it went quiet was Damian’s pained cry, and Dick curses himself for not being there. He should have been there.

He pushes himself faster.

When he leaps down from the rooftop of the last building just before the bombsite, there’s no one to be found. Everything is quiet in the aftermath of ash and fire, and Dick’s just lucky they’ve both died down enough for him to see.

Damian. He needs to find Damian.

He spots green boots sticking out of an alley between two still somehow intact buildings, and Dick doesn’t hesitate. “Damian!” he yells, not caring who hears him. There’s nothing anybody could do, anyways. The fight is over, and the good guys have won.

To Dick, though, it still feels like they’ve lost. It always does. He doesn’t think that they’ve ever quite won. Winning would mean that everything is over, that there’s no need for vigilantes, but there will always new villains who crop up, new crime that needs to be stopped, and if their jobs aren’t done, if there’s still a need for vigilantes, then they haven’t won, have they?

Dick drops to his knees next to Damian, who is slumped against the wall. He’s not moving, and there’s blood trickling from a large gash on his forehead.

“Damian,” Dick breathes, and when Damian doesn’t answer, Dick fumbles to get his glove off and press shaky fingers to his little brother’s neck. There’s a pulse—it’s weak, but it’s there. Damian’s chest is rising and falling just barely, but when Dick taps his cheek, there’s no response. He yells just a bit louder, like it will magically make his little brother wake up, “Damian!”

Surprisingly, it works. Damian’s eyes shift, underneath his eyelids, and when he pries them open to glare at Dick, Dick can’t help the burn in his own eyes. Not again. He can’t—

“I thought I lost you,” Dick says, the unspoken  _again_  hanging in the air between them.

Damian scoffs. “Like you could get rid of me that easily.”

“Right,” Dick says, a soft smile creeping on his face. He keeps his hand on his brother’s cheek, and Damian allows the point of contact. Even leans into it a bit.

Dick knows they’ll have get up and go at some point, but for now, he’s content to stay right here. Right next to Damian.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 112 "do you need me to kill someone for you?" Jason and Cassandra, please

When Jason woke up that morning, he thinks the last thing he’d ever thought he’d see was Cass curled up on the couch in the living room. He tenses the moment he sees her, but with her head buried in her knees, it doesn’t seem like she can see him. Still, he relaxes, keeps calm just in case. He plops down on the couch next to her, and she doesn’t even lift her head.

He’s quiet a moment, waiting to see if she’ll speak. She doesn’t, and Jason sighs. “Do you need me to kill someone for you?” he asks, his tone light-hearted, like he’s talking about the weather. “Or, I guess, is the someone you need me to help you kill? Shoot? Maim?”

Cass huffs out a small laugh, peeking out to shoot Jason a side-glance. “No,” she says, and it’s soft, but she doesn’t sound like she’s about to cry. Then again, Jason doesn’t think he’s ever seen Cass cry before. And he probably never will, knowing her.

So he raises an eyebrow. “Dick’s not bothering you again, is he?”

Cass’s smile widens minutely. “Dick never bothers me.”

“What is it?” Jason asks, nudging her with an elbow. “Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Best friend? Is it even a person?” Cass shakes her head, laughter in her eyes, and Jason grins. “Damn. And I thought I’d get to beat someone up. Or, at least watch  _you_  beat someone else.”

She’d probably be able to beat their ass much better than he could, too.

“I’m okay,” Cass reassures him. “But I would like it if you stayed and watched a movie with everybody tonight.”

Jason sighs, rolling his eyes dramatically, just to hear her giggle. “Fiiiiiiine. Just this once and only for you.”

Cass uncurls then, and leans over to press a light kiss to his cheek. Jason has to hold back a smile. He and Cass had never been the closest, but she’s his sister, and he could sit through a family movie night without shooting anybody. Probably. On second thought, he probably shouldn’t keep any weapons on him, just in case he has an urge to murder the Demon Brat.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 138. “I’m too sober for this shit.” jason and dick
> 
> This is a sort of sequel to I’ve Already Come Undone. Well, more like Jason’s pov. But anyways. Enjoy?

 

When Dick shows up on his doorstep, Jason immediately slams the door in his face. He deadbolts it, arms the security system, and thanks his lucky stars that he just went grocery shopping. That look. That look on Dick Grayson’s face. This is Bruce’s territory. Or literally  _anybody else’s_  but Jason’s.

A knock sounds at his door again, and Jason can’t help but shout,  _“Go. Away.”_

“Jason, I—” is said through the door, but Dick’s voice breaks before he can really say anything at all, and Jason just closes his eyes and leans his forehead against the doorjamb. He can hear Dick’s breathing through the door’s thin wood. By the sound of it, Jason’s either going to have to let him in or risk letting the guy have a panic attack right out in the hallway.

The “Jason,  _please,”_  is the last straw, and he crumbles.

Dick’s still standing there when Jason opens the door again, but he looks a lot more lost. A lot more fragile. And that’s saying something, because the Dick Grayson that Jason slammed the door on didn’t look that well put together, either.

“What do you want.” His tone is unsympathetic, flat. He’s radiating  _go away_  vibes with every part of his being. He doesn’t want to deal with this. He doesn’t want to deal with  _Dick._

Dick hesitates, but he sways forward, like he’s not sure whether to push Jason’s boundaries or not. He usually wouldn’t care, Jason knows, but Jason also knows that this isn’t usual Dick Grayson. This is a Dick Grayson dealing with a trauma all of the brothers but Tim have now had the pleasure of experiencing.

Dick reaches out a hand for Jason. It’s shaking, and Jason can’t help it when he grabs it and pulls Dick into the apartment. Dick doesn’t move, so Jason’s forced to push him over to the couch, too. Must have been something bad, then.

“Dick,” Jason says, and Dick focuses bright blue eyes on him. “What. Do. You. Want?”

Swallowing, Dick opens his mouth and whispers, “I was…I was walking home. And I saw his face. I didn’t think—I thought I would be okay. But then someone pushed me down, and—I couldn’t move, Jay. I thought—”

Flashback, then. And Dick had probably barely made it here based on how pale and shaky he is. So he hadn’t intentionally sought out  _Jason._ Dick just naturally sought out the closest human being he could break down in front of. Comforting.

Just a week ago, Jason remembers sitting on Dick’s bed, trying to wake his brother from what he’d thought to be a fear toxin induced nightmare. He’d thought that, based on what Tim said, maybe Dick had had a rough couple of nights here and there, and that the fear toxin had just intensified Dick’s reaction.

He remembers being in the Cave, going through Bruce’s files for a case. He remembers Tim’s scared, pale face at not being able to wake Dick up from a nightmare. He remembers trying to shake Dick awake and realizing that  _Dick couldn’t hear him._  He’d been stuck in between nightmare and reality, and it had taken a few minutes to get Dick to  _recognize_  Jason. And it had taken Bruce to calm him down.

Everything comes down to Bruce in the end, doesn’t it?

But finding out Dick had  _died._  Hadn’t just faked it. No, Bruce had just used the excuse to bend Dick to his will, to send him undercover. And Dick, recently revived, had let him.

Jason’s not an idiot. He’s smart enough to connect the dots.

Jason wants to be angry. He wants to be apathetic and unforgiving, but in the end, he understands that Dick hadn’t been in any position to save himself from a death machine or Bruce’s manipulation. He understands it like he understands that it wasn’t Bruce’s fault that he was too late to save Jason or that Talia wound him up like a timebomb and sent him stumbling back into Gotham. He understands.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be angry.

Jason runs a hand down his face and looks over at Dick again. “I’m too sober for this shit,” he murmurs.

“Sorry,” Dick breathes, holding his head in his trembling hands. “I’m sorry, Jason. Sorry.”

“Don’t,” Jason says, kneeling down in front of Dick. He pries Dick’s fingers away from his face, and he squeezes. “Don’t apologize. Don’t do that to yourself, Dick. Stay here a night and get your head on straight enough to go back to the Manor, got it?”

Dick nods. “Yeah,” he says, but he doesn’t sound like he believes he’ll be able to do it.

He can, Jason knows. Because, as much as Jason hates to admit it, Dick is one of the strongest people he’s met, and this. This isn’t going to break him. Not if Jason can help it.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 124. “Are you wearing my shirt?” batfam!!

Dick can barely keep from choking on his cereal, because—

“Are you wearing my shirt?” he asks when he manages to swallow, and Tim sends him a glower over the plate Alfred had just set down in front of him. Dick can’t manage to hold back his grin. He continues, “Stealing my clothes now, Timmy?”

“For the record,” Jason says as he walks into the dining room, “Tim always steals your shirts. Just never when your around.”

Dick blinks, spoon halfway from bowl to mouth. “Wait, what?”

“Your clothes are bigger,” Tim half-heartedly defends himself, but his ears are almost bright red now, and Dick thinks that he should probably stop with the teasing, but the grin is back on his face in an instant. That’s ridiculously adorable, and it could be a lot of fun. Tim catches the look from across the table. “Dick,  _no.”_

“I didn’t say anything.”

Jason snorts. “We can hear you thinking it.”

“Come on,” Dick says, dropping his spoon back into his (mostly empty) bowl. “It’ll be fun.”

 _“No,”_  Jason and Tim say at the same time, and that’s when Damian comes wandering in, looking like he’d just finished a training session.

Damian stops short when he sees the grin of Dick’s face and the pained looks on Jason’s and Tim’s. “What did Grayson do  _this_  time?”

Dick throws his hands up in the air in disbelief. “Aw, come on. It’ll be fun.”

Jason scowls. “No, it won’t. Or have you already forgotten your run as Batman.”

Dick’s smile vanishes. “That was different,” he says quietly. He forces a cheerful expression back on his face. “And besides, this will only be for a night.”

 _“What_  will be for a night?” Damian asks, eyes suspicious.

“Dick wants everybody to steal someone else’s uniform,” Tim mumbles into his pancakes.

Damian scoffs. “I refuse to take part in something so childish. Patrolling the city is not a joke, Grayson. I thought you knew that.”

“I’m not trying to make this a joke,” Dick says. “And I wouldn’t do it for patrol. Maybe just to prank B or something.”

Tim and Jason are silent, but they look like they’re mulling it over. Damian still looks scandalized, like the thought of giving Robin back to anybody else is one of Damian’s worst nightmares—which. It probably is. But if it comes down to it, Dick will tell Damian he doesn’t have to participate.

“If we’re going to do this,” Jason says, smirking slightly, “then the girls have to be on board with it, too.”

Tim sighs. Damian turns and walks out. And Dick? His grin is back.

“Yes!”

This is going to be amazing.

* * *

 

Four words: Bruce is not amused. Dick probably should have known better than to pull out the scaly green panties, Discowing, and some old squirt guns to pass as Red Hood’s guns in the Cave. Still, by the end of it, Jason (Batgirl) and Tim (Discowing) are in tears of laughter, Cass (Red Robin) is giggling, Stephanie (Red Hood) is pretending to shoot everything in sight, and Damian (Spoiler) is scowling but there’s some amusement in his face, so Dick counts it as a win.

Dick (Robin) is happy just watching them.

This was a good idea. Even if Bruce decided to crash the party.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: “You are ridiculously comfortable…” and "I vote today be a pyjama day" with Dick and Timmy please!

Today is one of those days.

It’s raining, Dick has snapped at Bruce a dozen times, had two full-blown arguments with him, messed up training, and stayed away from Damian. And it’s only noon. The entire time, Tim watches his train wreck of a brother wander around the manor trying to find something to keep him from spiraling.

It isn’t working. So Tim does what he thinks Dick would do if their positions were switched.

“I vote today to be a pajama day,” Tim says, barely daring to breathe as Dick stops stabbing his chicken and stares at him from across the table.

“Tim,” Dick says, and it’s slowly, like he can’t really believe what he’s hearing. “We’re already dressed, and you know Alfred will kill us if he finds out.”

He won’t, actually, because Tim had already talked to Alfred after that second argument with Bruce.

“Please?” Tim asks. “Come on, let’s build a blanket fort in the movie theatre, sit in our pajamas, and just watch movies all day. Just the two of us. Like we used to.”

They haven’t done something like this, just him and Dick, since Damian first came to the manor, so he knows the weight of those words, and he can see it when Dick’s face falls with something sad and reminiscent. Got him.

“Okay,” Dick says, and he looks a little less stressed, so Tim takes it as a win. “Okay, after lunch, let’s go change, and we’ll just…we’ll watch a few movies.”

A few turns out to be four. By the time the second one rolls around, Dick still looks a little tense, so Tim sighs and tugs his head down to lie on his knee. Dick goes without a fight, letting Tim play with his hair. After a few minutes, Dick even relaxes into it.

“Comfortable?” Tim asks, a smile on his face.

 _“Ridiculously_  comfortable,” Dick breathes. Then after a second, “Thanks, Timmy.”

Tim grins. After all that went down between them, after all the bad blood and the making up but still feeling the rift between them so distinctly, Tim’s still glad that he knows Dick well enough to calm him down after a stressful day.

“Anytime, Dick.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked: 82 " no, it was my fault for thinking you would care" dick and bruce

 

“Hi Clark,” Dick says, waving at him. He’s sitting on the hood of the Batmobile, his knees pulled up to his chest, and even though Clark has his arms spread out to catch the kid that usually throws himself into Clark’s embrace, Dick doesn’t move. He just smiles slightly and points in the direction of the Batcomputer, saying, “Bruce is over there.”

And Clark finds himself at a loss.

In the five years Clark has known Dick, he’s never seen a smile like that on the boy’s face. Dick, the chipper kid who always literally  _jumps_  at Clark to greet him, who never doubts that Clark will catch him each and every time, has never smiled that smile at Clark.

Clark had come here in the hopes of catching up with Dick and Bruce after a weeklong mission off-world. He hadn’t expected anything to be different, but there’s something to the set of Dick’s shoulder, to the falsity of his smile, to the coldness in his eyes, that has Clark flying over to the computer chair.

“What did you  _do?!”_  Clark demands as soon as Bruce’s attention is on him. When Bruce gives him a blank look, Clark makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, his chest tight as he hisses, “To  _Dick.”_

“I didn’t do anything to Dick,” Bruce says, his jaw set, and he turns back to whatever he was working on. Conversation over. Clark is shut out, just like that.

“I wouldn’t bother,” Dick says helpfully, still sitting on the hood of the Batmobile like it isn’t setting off every alarm in Clark’s head. “The almighty Batman has declared that nothing is wrong, so nothing’s wrong.”

Bruce sighs, and it’s longsuffering, exasperated, like he can’t believe he’s about to weigh in on this conversation, and he says, “My answer is final.”

“I didn’t want an  _answer,”_  Dick says, and his tone is chilling. “I wanted your  _support.”_

“Don’t turn this on me,” Bruce snaps, rubbing at his temples.

“Well it’s not  _my_  fault!” Dick yells, fists clenched, smile gone. “No, my only fault was thinking you’d  _care!”_

And with that statement, Dick leaps from the hood of the Batmobile, takes the stairs two at a time, and pushes the hidden door open without another word. Except, Clark has super-hearing. And he can hear Dick’s breath as he sobs, and Clark’s own chest tightens with anger.

“What the  _hell_  was that about? _”_  Clark growls, ready to start punching faces in.

Bruce sighs. “Dick thinks that it would be a good idea to visit Haly’s Circus for a week.”

“And you wouldn’t let him go?” Clark asks. “Isn’t that where he grew up?”

“You want me,” Bruce says slowly, eyes glinting as he stares hard at Clark, “to let Dick get on a plane  _alone_ , and send him overseas  _alone,_  after there’s already been two assassination attempts on his life in two months?”

Clark gapes.  _“Assassination?”_

Bruce blows out a breath and sinks back into his chair, all of the fight draining out of him in an instant. “Yes. We’ve kept it quiet so far, but someone’s after the Wayne fortune, and they’re trying to get to me through Dick.”

“Dick can take care of himself,” Clark tries to argue, but he’s also been taken off guard by how insane this is. He’d forgotten that Bruce and Dick aren’t just Batman and Robin. They’re Bruce Wayne, billionaire, and his adopted son, heir to Wayne Enterprises.  _Of course_  it’s totally plausible for someone to be after them. But, still, “He’s Robin. Don’t you trust him?”

“This isn’t about trust!” Bruce yells. “This is about keeping him safe!”

A thought occurs to Clark, and as much as he hates to entertain it, there’s just something about the way Bruce is acting.

“Does Dick know that’s why you don’t want him to go to the Circus?”

Bruce blinks, opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, and he looks completely floored. Like he hadn’t realized he could avoid all of this fighting with just a few words. “No,” Bruce finally says. “Dick doesn’t know that someone has been after him. Alfred and I have been working with Commissioner Gordon to keep it that way.”

“Explain it to him,” Clark says. “If you explain, he’ll probably understand.”

Bruce nods, but he still looks dumbfounded. Clark decides he’ll give it a couple of days, and if nothing’s worked out, then he’ll team up with Alfred and intervene.

* * *

 

The next time Clark shows up in the Cave a few days later, Dick runs at him, grin on his face, and Clark can’t help but return the grin and hold his arms out for the boy. Dick jumps and wraps his arms around his neck as Clark lifts him into the air, and Dick shouts,  _“Uncle Clark!”_  like it’s been two years instead of two days.

But just by this, and by the little smile Bruce has on his face over by the bottom of the stairs, Clark knows that everything is okay again.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: 127 "You're so cute when you're half awake like this" stephcass

The morning is quiet. A rarity with all of the boys staying at the manor. Cass thinks that sleepy mornings like this are what she looks forward to after rough nights on patrol.

It hadn’t been a horrible, night, no. But it hadn’t been great, either. And waking up with soft light spilling through half-open curtains, with soft blankets surrounding her, with the stillness of the early morning. It’s a quiet world she likes to appreciate after nights like last night. It makes her appreciate the stillness after the flurry of fighting. It’s nice to wake up to something peaceful, a reminder that her life can be happy now, too.

The moment is broken when Stephanie slams open her bedroom door and immediately starts chatting away to her. The other girl climbs onto the bed, and Cass pushes herself to sit upright and face her, and indulgent smile on her face while she listens to Stephanie rant about something Tim had done the day before. And when Steph pauses to take a breath _—_

“Good morning,” Cass says pleasantly

 _—_ Steph blows it back out, rolling her eyes fondly. She’s smiling, though, and this is familiar. What isn’t familiar, though _—_ a curve ball Steph has decided to throw at Cass (though, those come more often than not) _—_ is when Steph laughs softly and says, “You’re so cute when you’re half awake like this.”

And Cass grins.

Yes, she loves the peaceful moments in the morning, the moments that remind her that life isn’t just a raging battlefield. But if she didn’t have Steph, a whirlwind of a girl in her life, Cass doesn’t know where she would be. Steph may disrupt that stillness she values, but Cass certainly doesn’t mind at all.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: 67. “It’s you, it’s always been you.” Shippy!

Wally doesn’t know what he’s still doing here.

Okay, so that’s not entirely true. He’s here for Dick. For his best friend. But after the last few hours, Wally thinks that it really shouldn’t be him sitting here. If anybody should be on this couch next to Dick, he thinks maybe it should be one of Dick’s siblings, someone who can comfort Dick without getting severely uncomfortable about the topic.

And yet, Wally stays. It probably says something about his character.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Wally asks, maybe just to break the pressing silence, maybe just to see Dick’s face scrunch up in a grimace–which is much better than that blank expression he was wearing like a mask just minutes before, or maybe it’s both.

“I don’t know,” Dick croaks after a while.

“Do…How’re you feeling, man?” Wally tries, wanting to gauge how well Dick is coping.

“I’m fine.” He’s clearly not, but it’s obvious that Dick isn’t going to admit anything to him. Not right now. Not while he’s still trying to wear that mask of his. “I didn’t know her that well anyways.”

“But I thought you two were going out.”

The words are out of his motor mouth faster than Wally can stop them, and he freezes, cursing silently to himself when Dick’s breathing completely stops. There’s a single moment, a moment that Wally wishes he could just shut himself up before he says something stupid again, where neither of them speak. The two of them stare at each other, Wally with horrified eyes, and Dick with that odd blankess.

But then Dick tilts his head and says, “What?”

Wally blinks, lets himself breathe, and tries to save himself. “Uh, sorry, Dick. That wasn’t–I didn’t mean to–v”

“You thought I was going out with Liliana?”

Wally looks away and shrugs. “I mean, I guess? You two were always hanging out together before she–before.”

“Yeah,” Dick breathes. “She said she was happy to be my wingman right before the car hit her.”

Wally’s heart stutters to a stop. “Excuse me?” he says, hiding real hurt with fake hurt. “I thought  _I_  was your wingman. What the hell, bro?”

Dick doesn’t laugh. Instead, he leans his head onto Wally’s shoulder. “I like you, Wally,” he says, and it’s blunt, and Wally doesn’t even have time to react before Dick’s continuing. “And that’s a sucky thing to say in front of you right here and now when I’m hurting from a good friend getting hospitalized. When I’m not in a good place to act on my feelings but–”

“Dick,” Wally whispers. “Dick, I–”

“It’s you, Wally. It’s always been you.”

Wally doesn’t say anything to that. He just takes in the moment of quiet, Dick’s head resting on his shoulder, trying to get this through his head.

“You’re a dumbass,” Dick says after a moment.

“Hey!”

“I can’t believe you thought I was dating Liliana.”

“She’s pretty.”

“You’re prettier.”

“And yet, somehow you’ve got us all beat.”

Dick’s quiet after that, too. They stay like that, silent, sitting on the couch, and Wally thinks that maybe this isn’t the best time to be confessing feelings left and right. Not when some girl was just hospitalized and was just barely declared stable enough to be transferred from the ICU.

And then Dick asks, “You think I’m pretty?”

A smile tugs at Wally’s lips despite the situation, and he lies his head on top of Dick’s. “The prettiest.”

“I love you, Wally.”

“Love you, too, Dick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for all of these prompts! Thanks for reading :)

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr:
> 
> camsthisky.tumblr.com


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